Women in King Lear

The characters and character development in King Lear are critical to examine because of the shocking cruelty and misunderstanding that many of the characters experience. I think there are a lot of important people in this play that need analyzing, but Lear’s three daughters are really the most necessary. In most Shakespearean plays, women are marginalized; used as tools for men attempting to better themselves politically. Shakespeare does not usually provide the audience with insight into the personalities of the women, and if he does, the roles are small. This play turns the tables entirely; it takes two strong women and gives them a lot of power and a lot of stage time. I think the role that their husbands play is also important- who has the power in the relationships? I wonder what Queen Elizabeth would have said about the portrayal of women and their untimely deaths in this play, especially since Cordelia, who was the good one, dies at the end of the play too.
Goneril and Regan are more than willing to say whatever their father wants to hear, but when it comes down to it, they don’t love or respect him very much at all. They take away his knights and unite against him to keep him out of their homes. They seem to be strongly bonded in their foulness, but Edmund quickly comes between them. Their fight for Edmund’s attention becomes so intense that Goneril actually kills her sister and herself. These women share the same blood and they are so quick to turn on each other, it’s appalling.
The way each sister interacts with her respective husband is insightful, too. Goneril and Albany fight in practically every scene they’re in together. Albany is sympathetic to Goneril’s father and Gloucester and when he tries to talk to his cold wife, they argue. Regan’s marriage seems to be on stronger ground, as she and her husband, Cornwall, are not only cruel but actually blind Gloucester together, cheering each other on as they go, but right after he dies, she goes running after Edmund. Cordelia, who is the kindest of the three sisters, marries the King of France, who respects her virtue from the beginning, and has the most honest of all the relationships.
I have to wonder about the way the women are woven into the last act of the play. Goneril kills her sister and then, for fear of facing Albany, kills herself. Cordelia gets killed because of Edmund’s lie, and Lear finally dies grieving for Cordelia. What message was Shakespeare sending to the audience and people reading the play? The women are strong, yes, but they are terrible people (Cordelia, although “good” never actually defends her father or stands up for what she deserves) with tragic fates. And what would Queen Elizabeth have said about the entire thing?